The Mad Priest has an intriguing take on the Atonement: He thinks that it’s we, not God, who need a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins — without such a sacrifice, he says, we don’t truly accept that we’re forgiven (and thus, one could extrapolate, we’re not truly liberated from sin):
In my understanding of the Atonement I emphasise the sacrifice that Jesus made, which is an orthodox doctrine and has been throughout the whole history of our faith. For me, the scapegoat is the most important character in the Jewish Bible.
However, where I plunge into heresy is that I do not believe God needs the sacrifice, because he is God and not subject to any action and because we are told many times in scripture that he does not require bodily sacrifice.
Therefore, my conclusion is simple. Jesus willingly becomes the payment for our sins because we need the payment to be made (not God).
Although we know intellectually that God forgives we don’t truly believe it unless we are punished. We are unable to bear the required punishment but God is, so Jesus, who is God, takes the rap for us so we, in our human weakness, can truly believe we are forgiven by God.
It is the same psychology at work in the story of Lamb as in the story of the scapegoat.
(Extra paragraphing added.)
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